Utilitarian Theory Of Hedonic Value

Hedonic and Utilitarian Values

Westbrook and Black (1985) posit that some shopping motives are utilitarian in nature whereas others are hedonic. Consumer values have been broadly termed as utilitarian ( Bloch and Bruce, 1984 ; Batra and Ahtola, 1991; Engel et al , 1993 ; Babin et al , 1994 ) which are more task oriented in nature and hedonic which are related to entertainment and fun-seeking behaviour ( Bellenger et al , 1976 ). Bloch and Richins (1983) claims that hedonic values are represented by heightened arousal, excitement, adventure and entertainment. Funtional aspect of shopping may not be able to satisfy customer with strong hedonic values. He will look for pleasurable stimuli ( Fischer and Arnold, 1990 ; Wang et al , 2000 ).

Research in the past few years has recognized the pivotal role hedonic values play in shopping and how they add to the emotional value ( Langrehr, 1991 ; Babin et al , 1994 )(Ha & Jang, 2010). Also confirms that Consumers purchase goods and services and perform consumption behavior for two basic reasons: (1) consummatory affective (hedonic) gratification (from sensory attributes), and (2) instrumental, utilitarian reasons’’

Hedonic value indicates the value received from the multisensory, fantasy and emotive aspects of the experience, however utilitarian value reflects the acquisition of products and/or information in an efficient manner and can be seen as reflecting a more task-oriented, cognitive, and non-emotional consequence of experience (Babin et al., 1994; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982). In sum, utilitarian value reflects the task related value of an experience but hedonic value reflects the value found in the experience itself independent of task-related activities ( Jones et al.,

Perceived Value, Satisfaction and Mall Patronage

The relationship between perceived value and overall satisfaction has been supported by many studies (Cronin et al 2000; Patrick and Backman2002). Cronin et al (2000); have suggested that satisfaction and perceived value to be direct antecedents of loyalty.

Woodruff (1997) identified that customer satisfaction measurement without fulfillment of customer perceived value cannot really meet the customer’s expectations.

Perceived value of the consumer has been argued to be the most important indicator of repurchase Intentions (Parasuraman and Grewal, 2000). Marketing researchers have investigated perceived value as an antecedent of satisfaction (Babin et al., 1994; Jones et al., 2006; McDougall and Levesque, 2000). These authors determined a strong linkage between hedonic and utilitarian values and satisfaction, indicating that both types of values have a positive effect on customer satisfaction (Babin et al., 1994; Jones et al.,